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Contents

Personality

Howard is cautious and overly dramatic. He is more emotional and high-strung than his husband. Harold frequently needs to calm Howard down when he gets overemotional while watching Clyde grow up, or when he feels overwhelmed by Lincoln's family. Howard also tends to worry about Clyde being safe at all times.

Both Howard and Harold like to visit movie theaters, restaurants, and coffee shops together. They own a car that is spacious enough to fit both dads and all of the Loud children at once. One of Harold's nicknames for Howard is Howie. Howard almost always calls Harold by his pet name, "Hare-Bear". Throughout the entire show, Howard has only ever called Harold by his real name when he is overwhelmed with emotion and needs Harold's help.

Howard can play the saxophone, and knows how to sew clothing. He always keeps a sewing needle and thread in his pocket. He is a cat lover just like Clyde.

Biography

Season 1

Howard and Harold under the mistletoe.

Howard is one of Clyde's dads, and he is seen, or mentioned in ten episodes of the first season. He is first mentioned in "A Tale of Two Tables", in which Clyde does taxes with his parents, while Lincoln talks to him.

In "Overnight Success", Howard makes his first on-screen appearance. In the episode, he gives Clyde everything he needs for a sleepover with Lincoln.

Howard is later mentioned in "Hand-Me-Downer", in which Clyde reveals that his dads own a tandem bicycle and enjoy shopping for antiques.

Howard and Harold are prominently featured in the episode "Attention Deficit". In this episode, it is revealed that Howard was part of a band in college.

In "Lincoln Loud: Girl Guru", Clyde says that Howard and Harold call him a great hugger and always compliment his "million-dollar" smile.

In "Roughin' It", Howard and Harold stay at a bed-and-breakfast while Clyde camps outside with Lincoln. They do not allow Clyde to leave their sightline, but when they fall asleep, the boys inadvertently fall into a river and end up in a cave. Clyde tells Lincoln that he really misses his dads, so they find their way back to Howard and Harold.

After Clyde falls off the Tunnel of Love ride in "A Fair to Remember", the carnival manager asks "the parents of a soggy boy" (Clyde) to come pick him up. Howard and Harold do not make a physical appearance, but this line indirectly references them.

Season 2

Howard worrying about Clyde being safe.

Howard and Harold appear in two of the first three episodes in the second season. They are present in the holiday special "11 Louds a Leapin'" where they are celebrating Christmas with the Loud family and Mr. Grouse.

They are the focus of the episode "Baby Steps", in which Clyde thinks his dads are having another baby and Lincoln helps him learn how to be a good big brother. However, it is all a misunderstanding and they were actually getting a new kitten for Clyde. Howard is the one who names her Nepurrtiti.

In "The Whole Picture", it is revealed that Howard and Harold back up all of Clyde's childhood photos with their online cloud storage. Clyde also mentions that he and his dads hold acting sessions every Friday.

In "Cheater by the Dozen", Clyde says that he is not allowed to watch R-rated movies, further showing how his dads treat him like a baby. Although the episode takes place mostly at the McBride house and the dads' tandem bicycle is seen, they do not physically show up at all.

Howard saving Clyde from falling overboard.

In "Kick the Bucket List", Howard and Harold surprise Clyde by going on an eight-day vacation in Hawaii. They go on a plane, visit a volcano, go sailing, and swim in the ocean. Throughout the entire trip, Clyde tries to trim down the list of activities he planned to do with Lincoln over spring break. This leaves him distracted, so Howard and Harold have to continually save him from danger he is unaware of: they pull him away from lava when visiting the volcano, catch him when he nearly falls overboard on their sailing trip, and take a fish off of his head when they go swimming.

In "ARGGH! You for Real?", he and Harold become worried about Clyde throwing all his stuff and call Lincoln to help them. As usual, the emotional Howard worries a lot and becomes sad when he feels that Clyde no longer believes in fantasy stories, considering them all meaningless frottles. He can not stand the idea of seeing his son Clyde who growing too fast, not feeling like a little kid.

In "Health Kicked", he and Harold compete in the Royal Woods Ultra Extreme Ninja Competition.

In "Yes Man", he is seen in a photo when Lincoln talks to Clyde, Liam, and Zach on his laptop.

In "Tricked!", he is mentioned by Clyde, that if Clyde brings candy home, his dads will lock up the candy, and only bring out one small piece at a time.

In "Snow Way Down", Lincoln discovers how overprotective Harold and Howard are.

Appearance

Howard's sleep mask.

Howard has buck teeth, kinda dark reddish hair, a long pointy nose, and an oval shaped like head. He also has bags around his eyes, probably from worrying too much. He wears brown slacks, white sneakers, and a red collared shirt with rolled-up sleeves and four buttons. In "Kick the Bucket List", he is shown to wear a blue sleep mask.

In a live stream from Nickelodeon on February 2017, Chris Savino drew the Dads' original designs. Howard was shown with curly hair and otherwise identical features.

Whenever the Loud House social media accounts refer to Howard and Harold as Clyde's dads, "Dads" is capitalized as a proper noun.

Many same-sex married couples hyphenate their last names and use both, but the McBrides only use one of theirs. It is unknown if Harold or Howard's family name was McBride before they married.

Either Howard or Harold must have been a medical professional at some point, or at least gone through medical school. It is mentioned that they give Lincoln and Clyde their vaccinations in "Attention Deficit", so they must have easy access to medical equipment, and the license to administer that kind of medication.

In "11 Louds a Leapin'" and "Snow Way Down", Howard's hair is light brown instead of red. It is possible that he dyes his hair red, and is a natural brunet (or, assuming that he is a natural redhead, and dyed his hair brown).

So far, he is never once referred to as Howard, since his husband Harold always calls him "Howie".

Harold never called his husband as Howard but only "Howie", at least until at the episode ARGGH! You for Real?: This episode marks the first time Howard is referred to by his full first name, as opposed to just "Howie".

Howard is Michael McDonald's second voice role on a Nickelodeon show. He also provided the voice of Robodad, a recurring character on Invader Zim.

Since Arabic-speaking countries are notoriously conservative, Howard in the Arabic dub was given a female voice actor and is said to be Clyde's mother. His voice and dialogue are the only things altered.